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Consumer Reports ShopSmart tried out four ice cream scoops to see whether they could help make "scooping" easier. (Published Tuesday, Jun 11, 2013)

Updated at 2:30 PM CDT on Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013

What’s better than ice cream? Someone else scooping it for you, of course! That’s because ice cream can be downright hard to scoop. Consumer Reports ShopSmart tried out four ice cream scoops to see whether they could help make "scooping" easier.

There was the Oxo Good Grips scoop with a lever, the Anti-Freeze Scoop from Crate & Barrel, the Zeroll Original TubMate Spade, and an electric ice cream scoop from Deni.

Panelists faced the very “difficult” job of scooping out hard, dense ice cream. They appreciated the lever on Oxo's scoop, but that was about it. It didn’t get into the ice cream easily.

Crate & Barrel’s scoop looks like a traditional scoop, but the handle is filled with liquid, which apparently your hand is supposed to warm and hopefully make the ice cream easier to scoop. It required a lot of force but did make great scoops when it got the ice cream out.

The Paddle scoop from Zeroll got the job done, but it's a bit large for pint-sized containers.

Turns out that the electric ice cream scoop was the easiest to use, but it was also the priciest, at $33. It's kind of big, and some panelists found the electric cord to be cumbersome. Plus, it melted the ice cream around the edges. So if you like soupy ice cream, it’s a good thing. If you don't, then it’s not such a good thing.

So though there are no clear winners, Consumer Reports says don't let that stop you! No matter which scoop you use, it's the ice cream that really matters. Consumer Reports’ latest tests of chocolate and vanilla ice cream found that Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's still rule! And tests of butter pecan ice cream revealed a bargain buy: Walmart's Great Value Butter Pecan.

Complete Ratings and recommendations on all kinds of products, including appliances, cars & trucks, and electronic gear, are available on Consumer Reports’ website.